Tuesday, December 24, 2019

A Short Note On The Constellation Of Cancer - 1680 Words

Cancer (constellation) ♋ The constellation of Cancer is one of the 88 modern constellations: located between the constellations Leo, Hydra and Gemini at between 07h 55m 19.7973s and 09h 22m 35.0364s right ascension and 33.1415138 ° and 6.4700689 ° declination. It is also one of the 12 Zodiac constellations and one of the original 48 listed by the ancient Greek astronomer Ptolemy. Its name is Latin for crab and its astrological symbol is ♋, which represents crab pincers. This constellation attracted my interest because it contains a galaxy with a binary supermassive black hole system: OJ 287. -The constellation of Cancer as it can be seen in the sky. In the mythology of The Twelve Labours of Heracles (or Hercules in Roman mythology) Cancer is a crab sent by Hera to hinder Heracles in his fight against Hydra. Depending on the version of the story Heracles either kicks Cancer so hard that the crab is stuck amongst the constellations, or he just crushes Cancer by stomping on it and Hera places it in the sky for its bravery, but not in a bright part of the sky because it did not complete its task (Cancer has only two stars brighter than the 4th magnitude). Magnitude levels are levels of brightness, with lower numbered levels being brighter than higher number levels (e.g. a magnitude level 1 is brighter than a magnitude 2). Some sources say that cancer was a late addition to the story and that it was only included to make the 12 zodiac signs coincide with the 12 Labours. -A potShow MoreRelatedConstellations5203 Words   |  21 Pages------------------------------------------------- Constellation From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This article is about the star grouping. For other uses, see  Constellation (disambiguation). | | | | * Top: Baroque drawing of the constellation  Orionfrom  Johannes Hevelius  celestial catalogue * Bottom: Contemporary map of Orion from the  IAUand photography of the night sky | In everyday usage, a  constellation  is a traditional or recognizable group of stars in the night sky,Read MoreConductivity Essay1831 Words   |  8 Pagesflat map explorer. Familiarize yourself with the cursor and how it prints out the longitude and latitude of the active map location. Note that you can vary the central meridian of the map (i.e. change its longitude). Use the â€Å"shift map† arrows at the top of the simulator to affect large rapid changes. Use the shift-click feature of the cursor for finer control. Note what information is accessible through the show cities and show map features check boxes. Center the cursor on your present locationRead MoreBasic Coordinates Seasons - Student Guide2596 Words   |  11 Pages * Familiarize yourself with the cursor and how it prints out the longitude and latitude of the active map location. * Note that you can vary the central meridian of the map (i.e. change its longitude). Use the â€Å"shift map† arrows at the top of the simulator to affect large rapid changes. Use the shift-click feature of the cursor for finer control. * Note what information is accessible through the show cities and show map features check boxes. * Center the cursor on your presentRead More Attitudes to War in Dulce et Decorum est and Drummer Hodge. Essay2066 Words   |  9 Pagesfor the men and does this extremely well by saying All went lame, all blind. This gives us the image that men couldnt see or hear correctly. He uses the metaphor Drunk with fatigue to illustrate the tiredness of the men. Stanza one ends on a note of warning; the danger of which the soldiers are unaware, as they cant hear properly. The first and second verses are all to do with the visual and oral images of the soldiers and the ironic sense that the men are on their way back from theRead MoreLinking Lab 1 Astr1012457 Words   |  10 Pages * Familiarize yourself with the cursor and how it prints out the longitude and latitude of the active map location. * Note that you can vary the central meridian of the map (i.e. change its longitude). Use the â€Å"shift map† arrows at the top of the simulator to affect large rapid changes. Use the shift-click feature of the cursor for finer control. * Note what information is accessible through the show cities and show map features check boxes. * Center the cursor on your presentRead MoreA Picatrix Miscellany52019 Words   |  209 Pages Some passages are related to the Kità ¢b al-Baht of Jà ¢bir, which is laid under such heavy contribution later in The Aim of the Sage. Chapter 4. Since the successful use of talismans depends upon their being used in conjunction with the correct constellations, this chapter is devoted to the latter. The author gives a descriptive list of the twenty-eight mansions of the moon, according to the â€Å"Indian† system, and assigns to each its correct talisman. Analysis of the passage shows that it is a compoundRead MoreOutdoor Recreation With The Whole Family3630 Words   |  15 Pagesidentification guidebook from your local library. Go for a group hike, bring the guidebook, and take pocket-sized notebooks and pencils for everyone. As you hike, try to identify rocks and plants. Have everyone write down the name of the object and a short description that includes where you found it , it s shape, size, and color. At the end of the hike, take turns describing your favorite finds! Bird Watching. Check out a bird identification guide from your local library. Go for a walk with your guidebookRead MoreEssay about The Importance Of The Human Genome Project2747 Words   |  11 Pagesconsequence which could potentially result in decreased support for and confidence in the field of science. The Human Genome Project s first flaw, Marks believes, is its image of being the sole panacea for societys problems. It is important to note that Marks does not condemn the Project as a whole, nor does he advocate a complete abandonment of its future efforts which would, according to biologist Svante Paabo, lead to ignorance and spur prejudice, oppression, and racism (2001, paragraph 8);Read MoreAn Analysis of Bass Pro Shops Incs Strategic Marketing Methods3267 Words   |  13 Pagesof sporting goods merchandise (Hudson 2002). It is important to note, though, that the company has not relied on its retail outlets to grow its business, but has rather employed some traditional as well as modern marketing techniques to achieve its organizational goals and these issues are discussed further below. Different Marketing Strategy Options Available to Bass Pro Shops Certainly, the company has the entire constellation of traditional (i.e., print, television and radio, word-of-mouth)Read MoreStages of Life6505 Words   |  27 Pagesseen more | | |as parents than as â€Å"brothers† to other men who are somewhat younger than them and this message comes as an irritation at | | |first.   Also at this time, men becoming increasingly aware of death and they are reminded of how short life really is.   They | | |become involved in trying to leave a legacy and this usually forms the core of the second half of his life. | | |6) Entering middle adulthood (45-50) - choices must be made, a new life structure formed

Monday, December 16, 2019

Contemporary issues in Forest Schools Free Essays

string(240) " when the children attended formal schooling, after Forest School, at the age of 7, they arrived with high self-esteem and strong social skills and were confident and competent learners, attributes that would boost their academic learning\." Introduction This report explains the philosophy behind ‘Forest Schools’ and why it has been introduced in England and its relevance to the Early Years National Curriculum.It will outline the History and benefits of ‘Forest Schools’ in the Early Years; how it can address current crises in the U.K. We will write a custom essay sample on Contemporary issues in Forest Schools or any similar topic only for you Order Now ; and explains the problems encountered in delivering the initiative.It looks into the implementation of ‘Forest Schools’ locally, taking into consideration the necessity to change attitudes and the complications with logistics of putting this approach in place. ‘Forest School’ approach has not been a Government led initiative, although they do appreciate its benefits.The Department of Health (DOH) and Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCFS) have realised ‘Forest Schools’ are a positive step towards the health and education of young children (Alexander and Hargreaves, 2007). The UK Parliament House of Commons Select Committee on Education and Skills, agreed with the principle of outside classroom education saying, â€Å"we are convinced that out of classroom education enriches the curriculum and can improve educational attainment† (U.K. Parliament, 2004; part 7, para. 1). The Early Years Curriculum has seen many alterations in the last ten years to accommodate the changing requirements for educational settings.The British educational culture is formal, lessons are planned and children assessed routinely.As the need for children to attend educational settings at an earlier age and pedagogy changes to keep in line with new research, the curriculum changes accordingly. The UK Government believes parents should return to work as soon as possible after Maternity Leave to help to eradicate child poverty and childrens’ learning would benefit from early intervention too. Ball (2010 p, 49) states Surestart emerged as an early intervention to â€Å"†¦give children†¦ a good start†¦. in their learning and development†¦ and combined with Child Tax Credits, is intended to enable more mothers to return to the workforce.† To allow mothers to return to work, Government felt it their responsibility to provide adequate provision for affordable, flexible childcare in Childcare Act 2006 and so the DCSF was set up in June, 2007.Its role was to promote educational excellence, raise standards in education, reduce child poverty, re-engage disaffected children and to ensure integrated services.The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) became statutory in September, 2008, it is central to the development and welfare of children and also acknowledged the importance of outdoor learning (DfES, 2007).This policy combined the ‘Curriculum for Guidance for the Foundation Stage’ (QCA/DfEE, 2000), ‘Birth to Three Matters Framework’ (DfES, 2002) and also ‘National Standards for Under Eight’s Day Care and Childminding’ (Sure Start, 2003). There has been much discussion questioning the approach to educating the under 7’s (Yelland, 2005). The Cambridge Primary Review made 7 5 recommendations. (www.guardian.co.uk/education accessed 21.2.2011)In comparison in other countries children do not start formal education as early as in the U.K.In Primary Review interim report, 2008, it indicates that these countries reap social and emotional benefits, without any delays in education. Over time children have become disconnected from nature according to Richard Louv (2005). He identified this as ‘nature deficit disorder’.An article in the Spring 2011 National Trust magazine states, â€Å"there is growing empirical evidence to show that exposure to nature brings substantial mental health benefits†. Policy makers, education services, health care providers, residential developers and organisations such as Natural England, British Mental Health Charity and the National Trust are beginning to realise there needs to be a deep cultural change to connect children back with nature. In the 19th Century outdoor life was a normal part of a child’s life and this was where they learnt their skills for life and, therefore, they did not need the educational system for guidance.However, industrialisation meant that families moved to urban areas to find work which resulted in children being separated from the countryside and fresh air. (Knight,2009)Thence, mainly the middle and upper classes used the countryside and educationalists and health professionals began to notice the effects caused by the lack of outdoor space. The MacMillan sisters founded outdoor nurseries to counteract this insisting quality time to play and fresh air were needed for healthy bodies and minds (Pugh and Duffey,2010).Susan Isaacs started a nursery for privileged children, based around the outdoor environment.Badon Powell initiated the Scout Movement to improve the welfare of boys in our society and he encouraged them to engage with the environment.The Outward Bound Movement was introduced by Kurt Hahan in response to the moral decline of young people.These educationalists initiatives were in response to crises in society caused by industrialisation. Practitioners are always looking for new ways of helping children learn.Rudolph Steiner schools’ endorse outdoor play for learning (Pound,2009). Froebel realised the importance of play and Stalozzi the importance of physical education (Pound, 2009).Over time society seems to have lost sight of the importance of regular outdoor opportunities, e.g. playing fields have been sold to boost funding.Recently there is talk of the Forestry Commission selling forests to private enterprises and charities – Article in the Daily Mail, 2011, â€Å"Outcry stalls ?100m forest sell off†.The government identified the need to be active outdoors but their actions do not confirm.Increase in reports of crime in society means parents no longer feel it is safe to let children play, outdoors, unsupervised. There are many reasons for the lack of outside play but children need fresh air and exercise for their wellbeing. Research endorses outside play as being essential to children’s learning and well-being. (Bilton, 2008) One response to learning in the outdoors, is ‘Forest School’, an idea derived from a culture of education in an outdoor environment in Scandinavia (Knight, 2009). Williams-Siegfredsen (2005, p.26) acknowledged â€Å"for Foundation Stage children Forest School exactly addresses their developmental needs, fostering skills t hat then help them to succeed in our conventional learning environments†. Practitioners from the Early Years department of Bridgwater College visited a nursery in Denmark in 1990.Children were playing outside in all weathers, being in woodland, close to nature.They learnt about the environment, how to look after it and how to respect each other.Their physical skills were developed as they ran and balanced, they had open fires and whittled with knives.It was noted that when the children attended formal schooling, after Forest School, at the age of 7, they arrived with high self-esteem and strong social skills and were confident and competent learners, attributes that would boost their academic learning. You read "Contemporary issues in Forest Schools" in category "Essay examples" (Knight, 2009)The Bridgwater practitioners brought the idea back to England and developed it in their college nursery. The Forestry Commission paid The New Economics Foundation (NEF) to research the benefits of ‘Forest Schools’ (See Appendix 1)They found children who attended ‘Forest Schools’ took pride in their surroundings, had improved confidence, could work well in a team and had more motivation to learn and so in 2002 The Forestry Commission saw the relevance of ‘Forest Schools’ and supported it by piloting ‘Forest Schools’ in England, replicating the research.In 2003, Green Light Trust (GLT) launched ‘Forest Schools’ across England and ran Open College Network (O.C.N) courses to train practitioners. Knight (2009) recognised that not only could ‘forest school’ approach help with educational attainment but could also help tackle other current social crises in the UK, such as child well-being, obesity, child behavioural problems and poor social skills. Child well-being One in three children are living in poverty in the United Kingdom (UK) this rate is the highest in the industrialised world. Child poverty creates problems in education, employment, mental and physical health and social interaction.Tony Blair set targets to end child poverty, in the UK, by 2020. The Government introduced ‘Every Child Matters (ECM)’ (DfES, 2003) to protect all children and improve their well being it was intended to â€Å"personalise learning to meet the full diversity of learners needs† (Chemisnais, 2008). The child’s wellbeing in ECM (2003) is defined as: being healthy, staying safe, enjoying and achieve, making a positive contribution to society achieving economic wellbeing. Since 2003 ECM has underpinned all government initiatives. ECM (2003) was designed to bring together all relevant agencies and share information to protect the wellbeing of all children by â€Å"encouraging a holistic approach to children and young people, with the possibility of support for parents and carers through universal services such as schools, health and social services and child care† (Ball, 2010, p.190). However in 2007 UNICEF reported that England was 21st out of 21 industrialised countries in a survey on child well being. Child wellbeing cannot eradicate child poverty but motivates children to want to better their life.‘Forest Schools’ has been identified as a philosophy which will â€Å"encourage and inspire individuals of any age through positive experiences and participation in engaging and motivating achievable tasks and activities in a woodland environment, helping to develop personal, social and emotional skills: independence, self discovery, confidence, communication skills, raised self-esteem† (www.foresteducation.org).The government promoted outdoor learning in its ‘Learning outside the classroom’ manifesto (DfES, 2006).It aimed to identify weaknesses and strengths in educational settings so as to share practice and overcome barriers to learning in the outdoors, but it did not prescribe how to go about it. The report did not recognise that not all educational settings have the facilities needed for out door learning, e.g. inner city schools find it harder to access a woodland environment and logistics could prove costly.The Forest school approach was not mentioned in this report and is not known about by many practitioners it seems – â€Å"only a handful of British schools have fully embraced the Danish model† (The Independent www.independent.co.uk. Feb. 2010).It has proved challenging for the researcher to access information as to how many settings practise the Forest School ethos in the U.K. Obesity Obesity in children has been identified as a National priority. The World Health Organisation (WHO) predicts there will be 700 million obese adults in the world by 2015 (www.news.bbc.co.uk.) Childhood obesity is constantly in the news for example an article in www.news.bbc.co.uk/health stated ‘childhood obesity soars in UK† It is a modern problem, data on obesity was not available fifty years ago. (see appendix 1) The DOH quoted â€Å"one in four children is obese† (DOH, 2006). Early interventions are being sought as part of an anti-obesity campaign to counteract this costly problem.The Government recognised the need to reduce obesity in its report â€Å"Healthy weight, healthy lives† in January, 2008.The DOH and the DCSF, have also endorsed the need to increase levels of exercise in children.Many causes of obesity have been recognised.The two obvious causes being eating too much and lack of exercise. Another reason for obesity is â€Å"sedentary behavio ur/low energy activities† suggests Knight (2009, p.32), e.g. using motorised transport, sitting in a classroom, listening to music, using the computer.The issues of TV viewing and use of computers contributing to the lack of exercise is discussed by Sue Palmer in ‘Toxic Childhood’ (2006).Slage says that lack of exercise is more the cause than the food intake, agreeing with BUPA, (2007), who say â€Å"it’s habits in eating and exercise† and these trends need to be reversed.Children are not getting outside playing time so government suggests it is down to schools to give the children time for outside play and the opportunity to make decisions.DCSF increased the amount of Physical Education (P.E.) in schools in 2007.However, P.E. is often sacrificed due to curriculum constraints and lack of time, suggesting exercise has a low priority in society. The BMA report ‘Preventing childhood obesity’ considered competitive sports are not for all children.‘Forest Schools’ offers a good alternative.Children appreciate walking in the countryside and ‘Forest Schools’ encourages children to form good habits they can take into later life.Knight (2009) says, it is easier to change habits whilst they are young.The DOH says that habits and attitudes to exercise are formed whilst they are children and stay with them when they become adults. Not only do the children form good habits, but children take the idea home to their parents, therefore, it could be considered as part of an anti-obesity campaign for the whole population (O’Brien and Murray, 2006, p.44) However Forest School developed from a Scandinavian lifestyle and culture, one which is family orientated, with a love of the outdoors and being active, in a country which has a natural abundance of woodland unlike the UK.Not only does the environment impact on the implementation of ‘Forest Schools’ in the U.K, but the traditional cultures of countries affect it too, e.g. attitudes towards maternal employment, views of the child, source of funding and control over provision (See Appendix 4). Forest School sessions run for short periods of time, (normally 10 sessions, half a day each week) it is unrealistic to think that the Forest school experiences will remain with them into later life.Adults are needed to supervise and take their children out walking in the countryside, on a regular basis, to instil these habits but parents do not always have the time or the inclination, even if the child is keen to continue, therefore, making it an unlikely solution to solving obesity . Behavioural problems and poor social skills ‘Forest Schools’ not only act as an early intervention to obesity but are recognised as a means to tackling behavioural problems.BUPA, 2007, realised obesity not only caused chronic illness but also affects children’s emotional wellbeing, causing depression, low self-esteem dissatisfaction and dislike of their appearance. Consideration to social and emotional issues needs considering.Children used to play on building sites, this was not allowed but in the past adults turned a blind eye to it, whereas this would now be considered, ‘bad behaviour’. Has society changed its perception of ‘bad behaviour’ Children seek adventure and because of all the boundaries and restrictions their behaviour is identified as anti-social. As children have lost their outside play spaces, e.g. closure of school playing fields, they have also begun to lose their independence and freedom, which means children are losing their ability to be decisive and take risks.Outside places where children can play are (parks or forests) are often not open to unaccompanied children and are bound by so many restrictions, e.g. the necessity to lay soft surfacing. As the UK has become a ‘risk averse’, litigious society, playgrounds have been made so safe that the excitement has been taken out of them. The Play Safety Forum (www.hortweek.com Jan. 2009) now encourages parks to be a little more adventurous and slowly loosening their approaches to safety, to encourage risk taking opportunities, e.g. parks now have skate boarding ramps. However outdoors is perceived as more risky than indoors but in taking away the chance for children to learn about danger, we are taking away children’s rights (UNCRC, 1989).Children need to learn how to take safe risks and how to assess dangers and respond accordingly.‘Forest Schools’ offer them the opportunity to take risks in an area that is as safe as possible and in so doing it might change the perception of what ‘anti-social behaviour’ is. The Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum (DfES, 2007) describes how government initiatives have impacted on children’s poor social skills.As parents return to work whilst the child is still very young, the child does not get devoted, uninterrupted attention and the relevant positive feedback from one consistent person needed to develop self awareness. Continuity of care isn’t always possible in childcare settings due to changes in staff, making children’s boundaries inconsistent which are needed to learn right from wrong and for developing self confidence and self-esteem.As a child builds in confidence their self-image improves and they respect themselves and then they can respect other people’s diversities and cultures. (Knight,2009) ‘Forest Schools’ as an early intervention helps children prepare for the stress of modern day living.‘Forest Schools’ can help children to boost their confidence, self-esteem, self-control and improve their attitude whilst building relationships to encourage a sense of community.But Forest School mainly happens within the school community. However, Sue Palmer (2006) links the way children are raised by their parents, to their behavioural problems and says that it leads to lack of motivation and social skills.Children spend more time at home with their parents than in school.QCA 2000 identifies the role of a parent partnership and suggests that settings â€Å"extend relevant learning and play activities, so that they continue at home† (Devereux and Miller,2004).It is unrealistic to think that the short time spent in a Forest School experience can replace children’s day to day life experience.Brofenbrenner (1979) suggests that the mesosystem (go vernment initiative), macrosystem (educational setting) and microsystem (family), combined, can impact on a child’s experiences. Forest School in the local area. As previously mentioned, there appears to be little information regarding â€Å"Forest Schools† within the local area.Nursery settings appear to be the main users of this approach.Funding is more available for nurseries or schools where the need is seen as greater.Grants are offered by the Forest Education Initiative, One Planet Living, Green Watch and Big Lottery, in the local area. Individual settings are responsible for incorporating ‘Forest Schools’ approach into their outdoor routines as appropriate.Some use local outdoor centres, others have land-owners permission, some use woodlands on school grounds, whilst others share their grounds.Provision is patchy but is spreading quickly with little written evidence to support it.The responsibility of the NEF is to research social issues and support proposals for change, developing ways of researching to measure outcomes (Murray, 2004).They have gathered short-term evidence but need to further research the long term . Murray and O’Brien (2005, p.79) acknowledge the lack of research on the long-term effects of ‘Forest Schools’ on young children.It is difficult to identify behavioural or educational achievement as being due to outdoor education.(Swarbrick, Eastwood and Tutton, 2004) report that in one of the longest running ‘Forest Schools’ projects, in Somerset, children going into the primary phase of schooling are going in with increased confidence.The NEF have provided a self-appraisal tool kit, consisting of a project story board, reporting templates and the evaluation poster workshop, for local settings to gather evidence on the eight outcomes of ‘Forest Schools’ (See Appendix 3).Effective Early learning programme (EEL, 2003) suggests assessing children’s involvement as an excellent measure of the quality of the experience and their material could be used to evaluate the quality of children’s involvement and adult interaction with children on Forest School visits (Swarbrick, Eastwood and Tutton, 2004). Evidence is needed to persuade head teachers, staff and parents to support the concept and ethos.FEI has set up a group to maintain the ethos of the ‘Forest Schools’ approach in the U.K., as it is likely the original idea will be lost due to the lack of understanding.It has been deemed important to keep checking that settings are adhering to its unique ethos.Knight (2009) developed a description of a true ‘Forest Schools’ ethos and the researcher has compared the local rural co-educational pre-preparatory independent school to her criteria, below: On hearing about ‘Forest Schools’ the setting decided that a member of staff would go on an Open College Network (OCN) level 1 course to access more information about this philosophy and to find out how the school could make the most of its existing facilities.The member of staff has now taken the OCN level 2 course and the information acquired has been circulated throughout the pre-preparatory department and put into practise with every child fortnightly in place of a PE lesson. The setting tries to keep the ethos of ‘Forest Schools’ but does not meet all of Knight’s (2009) criteria. To protect the ethos of ‘Forest Schools’ it is important to discuss the problems in collaboration with practitioners and parents in the local community.Some schools find it difficult to fund the logistics, for example, wheelchair access and transporting the children to the Forest School can be expensive, therefore they bring the idea into the school grounds and try to create a natural area within it.O’Brien (2004) would consider this as unsuitable as it does not provide the greenery to allow opportunities of creating ‘secret places’, which he regards as important for a child’s development.The setting needs to be different to get the atmosphere and encourage creativity.In the report ‘A school becomes a Forest School’ an inner city urban Primary School has converted ‘a nearby patch of abandoned woodland into their very own natural setting’.This was assisted by a Park Ranger who believes that ‘any school is never fa r away from a natural setting, whether it is a local park or an abandoned allotment’ (www.tes.co.uk June, 2010). Head teachers need to know that the investment is worth it (staffing, outlay for clothing, equipment, transport), but it is difficult to prove the success that ‘Forest Schools’ claim.‘Observations’ are time consuming and removes an adult from participating with the children.If sessions are recorded then it is difficult to transcribe due to background noise and tricky to record information about individual children. Head teachers and staff are conscious of the need to achieve targets.Adults generally agree with the concept that ‘Forest Schools’ improve confidence and self-esteem but feel the need for academic justification for taking a day out of the classroom to go into the woodland.The question might be asked, do children learn a lot in ‘Forest Schools’ Hovelynck Peeters, (2003) argue that outdoor education needs to be examined for educational value as well as pleasure. The Curriculum for Excellence advocates that ‘real life’ learning has always proved successful in different ways for different children (DfEE, 1997 cited in Ball, 2008, p.90). During a Forest School session there is no need to have separate PHSE lessons as this is incorporated with academic skills such as numeracy and literacy, which is initiated through the children’s interests. Ofsted report ‘Learning outside the classroom’ (DfES, 2006) found that outside education ‘when planned and implemented well, learning outside the classroom contributed significantly to raising standards and improving pupil’s personal, social and emotional development’. However, according to Knight, a true Forest school should be ‘play-based, and, as far as possible, child-initiated and child-led’ as that is when children learn the skills needed to socially interact (Knight, 2009). The Early Years Foundation stage agrees children need to initiate and lead play (DfES, 2007) and is supported by Bruce, who also adds that the children need a varying degree of intervention and support from adults, as â€Å"sensitive co-ordinators† Bruce (1997, p.48). Practitioners realise children get a deeper understanding of the world when they use all their senses to explore, but it takes courage to let the children lead the learning and to change their perception that children can be outdoors all day and still learn, e.g. mark making equipment is not only for indoor use and outdoor space is not just for letting off steam. ‘Forest School’ approach has been perceived as more beneficial for students who struggle in the classroom but Maslow (1949) would argue that the skills acquired are beneficial for self-actualisation, which benefits all students. Sue Palmer (2008) identifies that all real play involves an element of risk and the more ‘real play’ is allowed the better they become at managing the risks, agreeing with Lindon (1999, p.11).Staff and parents are inevitably concerned about the risk involvement when letting children loose in a woodland environment. Parents are reassured and many settings have twilight meetings for practitioners and parents to meet and access the woods to identify the risks.The teachers explain to the children how to avoid accidents and practise being safe. Lindon (1999, p.10) takes the view that â€Å"a well intentioned focus on keeping children as safe as possible has shifted towards looking for anything and everything that can go wrong†. Practitioners and parents need to be educated about the need for risk taking.New policies are called for to allow for more risk and all practitioners need to be involved.It is challenging for practitioners to learn to trust the children to test their boundaries, rather than to intrude.However, we live in a culture of ‘safety first’, where children aren’t encouraged to play outside due to the fear of abduction, blame or legal action.In other countries such as Scandinavia, Forest School type activities are a normal part of early education and they worry less about litigation.In reality self-preservation is instinctive in children and they tend to stay quite close to an adult in an unknown environment until they have built their confidence.An article â€Å"I climbed right up to here† (www.forestschool.com March 2011) says that the word ‘risk’ would be better named ‘challenge’ and children should be allowed to work through the challeng es.Practitioners can make more informed decisions regarding risk taking as they observe the children they work with.Blair recommends that schools use generic risk assessment forms in â€Å"It’s safe to go outdoors† (TES, 2005).If the children are not allowed to take risks because of Health Safety regulations they may express themselves in challenging behaviour.Mortlock (2000, p.22) believes ideal learning should be adventurous but hazards manageable. True ‘Forest Schools’ have a saying, â€Å"there is no such things as bad weather, only bad clothing† (Knight, 2009). Parents are inevitably concerned about their children’s wellbeing and the risk of becoming ill if allowed to be outside in all weathers.Waterproof clothing is usually provided for only one group of children at a time and one size has to fit all.The clothing is ideal for wet weather but in summer the children often wear short sleeves and short socks, leading to small scratches and grazes.If the clothing is not stored on the site, it is impractical to think young children will carry the clothes to the site, to allow for England’s unpredictable weather.It can also become colder as children walk deeper into the woods, therefore it proves difficult to decide which clothing is suitable for the weather.Adults also need to be suitably attired depending on the weather.Realistically ‘Forest School’ experience does not appeal to all practitioners. Training the staff can also be costly and once the training has been paid for staff may move onto another school, leaving the setting without an O.C.N. Level 3 trained member of staff, required for a Forest School.The model needs to be sustainable once the funding has gone, it must not rely on one enthusiastic, well trained, member of staff. CONCLUSION O’Brien and Murray (2006) called ‘Forest Schools’ a marvellous opportunity for children to learn.This report has looked at the advantages and disadvantages, both nationally and locally and found that the approach works well in Denmark but is difficult to adapt to our National culture and climate.Swarbrick, Eastwood and Tutton (2004) recommend â€Å"a secure justification for Forest School would need to include some measurement of progress and attainment in order to place the project firmly in the arena of measuring quality in ways that would justify investment on a national scale†. Locally an up-to-date data base of schools and settings engaged in Forest Schools would be necessary.Government is promoting outside learning to improve attainment of which ‘Forest School’ approach has been identified as a possible initiativebut it would seem that the main target is in improving childrens’ attainment rather than improving the learning experiences and well-being of each child. How to cite Contemporary issues in Forest Schools, Essay examples

Saturday, December 7, 2019

Offshore Outsourcing of Customer Relationship Management

Question: Discuss about the Offshore Outsourcing of Customer Relationship Management. Answer: Introduction Customer relationship management implies the activities of the company, which is used for setting up as well as maintaining the relationship with their clients. Outsourcing means, companies that moves towards contracting with the other company for the purpose of performing the activities that are later on conducted in the enterprise (Abbott 2008). Due to the emergence of less price, international network of communication, high speed, and network of information processing had highly enabled the rise in number of companies. It relies within the economics of industrialised market for the purpose of outsourcing the particular components of Customer relationship management for offshoring the vendors, and the same are located in the countries along with less cost of labour (Abraham and Taylor 2013). Building the insight as per scholars through the stream of many kinds of literature, this report tries to present the conceptual model, which clearly delineate the CRM consequences related to t he intensity of offshore outsourcing (Abraham and Taylor 2013). The report also offers the overview of the literature, which determinant the choice of location decision to offshore the outsourcing (Abraham and Taylor 2013). Its considered as an issue, which is closely connected with the decisions of offshore outsourcing. The increasing trend related to offshore CRM outsourcing tries to serve and even seeks to highlight the problems, which merit the managerial consideration (Abraham and Taylor 2013). In reference to this, the report also highlight the supply chain in comparison to the impact of demand side of offshore outsourcing of CRM, along with CRM offshore outsourcing compared to CRM offshoring; CRM economics of offshore outsourcing compared to CRM automation; and hierarchical CRM organization evolution in market according to business system of CRM and various other problems (Abraham and Taylor 2013). "Offshore outsourcing of Customer Relationship Management. Offshore outsourcing is rapidly becoming quite common in the international economy. Through the offshore outsourcing definition it could be explained as the act related to contracting the company from a single country to perform the functions of business within an organization (Abraham 2010). As per the offshore outsourcing proponents, it provides business with the competitive benefits in the market. Just for the sake of appreciation, that various countries hold different wage scales (Agrawal, Kishore and Rao 2008). It creates the practice of offshore outsourcing as the similar prevalence through the companies in the developed world as important, because it leads to the reduction of employment price (Agrawal, Kishore and Rao 2008). Offshore outsourcing is also highly attributed towards enhancing the offshore outsourcing is highly associated towards increasing the innovative ideas flow along with technology all across the nations (Agrawal, Kishore and Rao 2008). Its the factor that tries to positively affect the reliability and effectiveness of outsourcing companies. However, it is noted that offshore outsourcing is explored as the principal threat in the case of long-term sustainable development of American economy (Agrawal, Kishore and Rao 2008). It is first as offshore outsourcing is quite compromising in the U.S market and that too for the citizens of America (Agrawal, Kishore and Rao 2008). Outsourcing is referred as the process, in which the companies try to choice the efficient services of the third party provider in an efficient manner and manage and operate the unit of customer relationship management (Aksin and Masini 2008). CRM outsourcing activities had emerged as the highly promising solution towards fulfilling the enhanced quality demand of CRM activities along with increasing price related to it (Aksin and Masini 2008). The industry of CRM goes in the revolutionizing process along with the offerings of new services like social media platforms as well as modern communication. Along with this, activities of CRM that offer the flexibility for the employees and clients are highly posed towards generating high opportunity of revenue (Aksin and Masini 2008). In a few years back, the CRM outsourcing trend had increasingly grown between the large size companies and later on it further expected towards attracting a huge number of medium sized businesses in coming years . In particular cases of outsourcing, the complete management system, and information technology is outsourced, where else in other situations, only the first services of application like billing system, CRM, as well as Enterprise Risk management is outsourced (Aksin and Masini 2008). Increased price related to in-house customer support is considered as the key driving factor in the case of outsourcing of customer relationship management activities (Aksin and Masini 2008). The requirement of CRM services in the starting stages, which are highly driven by the technical services and product sales; however, with the time rise in the cost of the management and customer support leads towards the increase in CRM outsourcing adoption (Anderson, Fornell and Rust 2008). Along with this, follow sun provisioning services could be undertaken through the CRM outsourcing activities (Aksin and Masini 2008). It offers the customers in the firm, having no delay of time and services of high quality. The process of CRM is outsourcing slowly results in the less staff turnover that permits the company towards emphasizing the core offerings development (Anderson, Fornell and Rust 2008). However, the cost of high training relates to the customer agent and CRM outsourcing cultural variation, which inhibit the CRM services quality, and it includes certain factors, which hinder the growth of the international market of CRM outsourcing (Anderson, Fornell and Rust 2008). Social media integration outreach, along with video chatting, media channels, and applications of the mobile phone is expected to the upcoming key CRM development phase (Anderson, Fornell and Rust 2008). The International market of CRM outsourcing is highly segmented according to the services, geography, and industry. As per the industry, the market for CRM outsourcing is categorized in financial, banking, telecommunication industry, institutions, hospitality and travel industry (Anderson, Fornell and Rust 2008). It also includes retail industry, healthcare sector, manufacturing, government, education, insurance, retail industry as well as utility sector. BFSI as well as retail are few industries, which hold the key market share in the market of CRM outsourcing (Anderson, Fornell and Rust 2008). Furthermore, according to the services, the CRM outsourcing market is divided into the services of telemarketing such as inbound sales, outbound sales activities, up-sell, and cross-sell (Deshpande, Farley and Webster 2011). It also includes services of order management such as subscription services, booking taking, activation of accounts, and cancellations (Anderson, Fornell and Rust 2008). It also includes customer services such as billing management and necessary inquiries; and services of technical support such as remote resolution, services of equipment installation, software usage and troubleshooting (Anderson, Fornell and Rust 2008). Asia-Pacific is considered as the rapidly increasing geography in the context of market share and revenue for the market of CRM outsourcing (Dardan, Stylianou and Kumar 2008). Both India and Philippines are referred as the main destinations of call centers; however, the offshore places are getting huge, which also includes regions like Latin America and Eastern Europe (Anderson, Fornell and Rust 2008). The industry of CRM is moving in the revolutionizing process, and consider itself as the service offering, including social media as well as various other platforms of modern communications that are unfolding along with that it also enables the flexibility for the employees and clients, which generate the high opportunity of revenue (Anderson and Gatignon 2009). It might take many years, in which new possibilities tries to create the necessary growth, but at the same time it tries to make clear that just like various other industries, CRM providers try to adapt to present type of communication or either explore themselves as becoming extinct just like the previous predecessors (Ang and Straub 2008). It is noted that CRM had to start growing capability of bedrock for various firms. In the world of customer focused, the management of customer relationship tries to build the loyalty and even strengthen the brands (Ang and Straub 2008). Excellent services for customers has usually depicted the variation among the satisfied clients who tries to promote the brand of the company and angry clients who vow towards purchasing from the firm. Interaction of call centre is often cited in explaining the customer service and mainly when the businesses make use of outsourcing of call centre (Bain 2011). But the several of CRM fact, particularly the call centre operations that are labour intensive could go challenging towards designing, delivering and implementing the outsourcers of industry (Bergen, Dutta and Walker 2012). For the companies ensuring the ability, the decisions related to whether and what should be outsourced is quite challenging (Contractor, Kumar, Kundu and Pederson 2010). In best situations, the CRM outsourcing work better and even help in saving money, but it is true that not all cases work optimally (Bergen, Dutta and Walker 2012). Kate Leggett, who was the Forrester research analyst in Cambridge, cited in this report, which depicts implementation of CRM in most of the companies, which also includes customer contact centre outsourcing, either through application and its considered at around 20% in more than 500 companies (Bergen, Dutta and Walker 2012). It is mentioned by the author that outsourcing might not always help in saving the money and could need the expected attention of management (Bergen, Dutta and Walker 2012). Few concerns and various other concerns are considered by Peter Perera, as well as experts of customer and data management, who are working at Perera Group Inc. its a consulting company, which emphasize over the client relationship management (Bhalla, Sodhi, and Son 2008). If one but the famous notion, which explicitly mentions that customer relationship management could be easily viewed from the perspective of people, technology, process, and data, then in that case probably the better place within the company to begin the confirmation about both pros and cons over customer relationship management outsourcers (Bhalla, Sodhi and Son 2008). The international competitiveness level existing between the various manufacturers as well as dynamics of customer satisfaction as well as loyalty, which clearly depicts the company should espouse the management of customer-supplier relationship in the day to day operations (Bhalla, Sodhi, and Son 2008). In such type of business environment, firms should try to make important decisions towards reducing cost and selection of suppliers (Clemons, Reddy and Row 2012). This is significant as the better providers relationship management usually directly tries to translate the enhanced productivity, effectiveness of cost, high product quality, the satisfaction of customers and customer loyalty (Bhalla, Sodhi, and Son 2008). Presently, there are fewer manufacturers, which mainly own the activities along with value chain, instead of producers, who try to integrate the process of production with the network of supply for improving the accuracy, and speed of decision making and even gain competitive benefits as compared to the various other competitors, which are connected with the networks (Bhalla, Sodhi and Son 2008). With the present condition of IT advancement, companies are mainly forced to respond towards integrating in the system of information technology, so that they can improve the previous effectiveness of operations, or either support in building new and high competitive ability, in order to remain profitable in present and complex business environment (Bhalla, Sodhi, and Son 2008). Bolton (2008) mentions that management of large suppliers and purchasers relationship among distinct entities of supply chain exist as the constant concern for most of the firms (Bolton 2008). The technological advancement has lead towards creating a whole and different relationships, which tries to exert direct impact over the core competencies of the company as well as competitive benefits (Business Week 2010). The non-core relegation activities towards outsourcing of businesses concentrate on the core skills that were exploited by various companies that even adds value and attain a reduction in the supply of base price (Business Week 2010). Customer relationship management also enables the companies to undertake as well as efficient translations, serve, acquire and try to retain large clients, and it even empowers customers towards engaging in the companys fruitful communication and even work towards improving the delivery of all the personalized products and services (Business Week 2010). All the customer relationship management support in attaining satisfaction of clients, and even help in customer trust, and even support in retaining the loyalty of customers (Busines s Week 2010). Through the rising profits of products per unit, firms should work towards adopting the various ways related to maintaining the margin of profit, but rising products quality (Buzzell and Gale 2009). Its only with the help of this mechanism that it can be viewed that manufacturers might be able to work towards strengthening the companys core competencies (Dickson, Hunter, Lassar and Root 2015). The increase in product quality needs that the manufacturers should emphasize over resources for not building core competencies as well as relegating the non-core competencies, but at the same time, it also develop the collaborative purchaser and supplier relationship with the help of outsourcing (Bharadwaj, Varadarajan and Fahy 2009). In this context, connection tries to transform the manufacturing companies in the organization, which focuses on customers that consistently gather the orders of customers and needs before working over subcontracting the orders to a great price suppliers, to achi eve the entire satisfaction of clients (Bharadwaj, Varadarajan and Fahy 2009). In the UK, the company Toyota Production System is highly hailed and explained as the classic example related to CRM and SRM integrated system (Bharadwaj, Varadarajan and Fahy 2009). After adopting the technique of Just in time management as well as integrating the total quality management along with demand signal management (Bharadwaj, Varadarajan and Fahy 2009). Through depending on the suppliers for providing the components of high quality of complete items, Toyota had worked towards maintaining the international competitiveness of the market, despite the increasing competition in the industry of automobile (Bharadwaj, Varadarajan and Fahy 2009). About this, the production system of Toyota usually leaned towards supply paradigm and lean production, by establishing the development stages of strategies for outsourcing, modularization as well as supply chain disintegration (Bharadwaj, Varadarajan and Fahy 2009). Through working towards non-core competencies, Toyota is highly successful in enhancing the product value, minimizing waste, improving customer base, loyalty, satisfaction and increasing profit margin by improving sales and implementing the program of cost reduction (Bharadwaj, Varadarajan and Fahy 2009). There are enough facts, which clearly recommend that the supply chain management modification and the rise infamous supplier relationship management had highly leads towards the growth in electronic procurement utilization (Chan and Chung 2012). More firms are working towards outsourcing the functions as compared to a previous time (DiMaggio and Powell 2008). Moreover, provided with the age-old challenges related to the weighted distribution of various attributes, the system of supplier chain management offer both purchaser with the opportunity to clearly measure the performance and value of services, which were provided by the selected providers (Chan and Chung 2012). Again, supplier relationship management has enhanced the vertical particular CRM application use (Doh, Bunyaratavej and Hahn 2009). The present trends of higher, as well as deeper integration, will continue in coming time (Chan and Chung 2012). On the other side, the current satisfaction level with the supplier relationship management infrastructure fails in implying that all the changes might not be taken in future time (Chan and Chung 2012). As per IDC Executive Brief, firms will start and foster towards slow and smooth integration through enhancing the supplier assessment process as the way towards avoiding the significant suppliers alienation (Chan and Chung 2012). Again, there is the likelihood that the existing infrastructural framework of supplier relationship management might get duplicated; therefore, it might delete the gains attained so far (Chan and Chung 2012). To avoid this, firms might take a decision over exploiting the present opportunities through the modular and networked nature of the supplier relationship management through working over customizing the systems for reducing whatever work is done so far (Chan and Chung 2012). Redundant last implemented applications might get uninstalled or either replaced with the help of alternative components (Economist 2010). By providing the organization nature, it might hurdle towards undermining the supplier relationship management effectiveness; companies buy-in might be used as the novel approach for the purpose of fostering the connecting the purchasers and providers (Chan and Chung 2012). Conclusion It can be easily summarized that most of the corporate managers will consistently work over evaluating the vertical integration as well as self-sufficiency concept. More significant is that, outsourcing will rapidly become one of the highest critical approaches in a case of leveraging. 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